Containers having walls consisting of a flexible and elastic material



Oct. 13, 1959 oss 2,908,423

CONTAINERS HAVING WALLS CQNSISTING OF A FLEXIBLE AND ELASTIC MATERIAL Filed May 7, 1956 IIIIIIIIIIJII fm/enzon' H. D 0 515 2,908,423 Patented Oct. 13,. 1959 -"'2,90s,423 CONTAINERS HAVING WALLS CONSISTING OF A FLEXIBLE ANDELASTIC MATERIAL Helmut Bross, Braunschweig, Germany, assignor t Giinther .Wagner, Hannover, Germany".

Application May 7, 1956, Serial No. ssarzr i l Claims priority, application Germany May 12,

2 Claims. (Cl. 222-213) The present inventor. relates to containers for fluid,

paste-like or granular substances, which containers have walls made of a yieldable elastic material, the walls of said containers being adapted to be compressed or squeezed together for the purpose of causing the contents of the container to be discharged from the container.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a container in which squeezing the container wall for the purpose of emptying the container will simultaneously cause the closure of the container to be opened, and in which releasing the squeezing pressure will cause the closure to be returned to its closed position.

For the purpose just indicated there is provided within the container a rod-like member which in its position of rest closes the discharge opening of the container with one of its ends. This rod-like member is adapted to be moved into the closure opening position upon a squeezing pressure being exerted on the flexible wall of the container. In order to provide for the said rod-like member to be supported during its movement, the elasticity and pliability of the container wall is reduced to a certain extent at a suitable point. This reduction in elasticity and pliability may be brought about by an accumulation of material of the container wall at the said point, i.e. by reinforcing the wall, or by the incorporation of a material of greater strength.

In certain embodiments of the invention the said rodlike member is arranged to perform sliding movements to open and close the container.

The sliding displacement of the rod-like member occur ring while the container wall is being squeezed is produced by a direction-changing mechanism which is adapted to convert into a longitudinal movement the transverse movement caused by the squeezing of the container wall. In its simplest form this direction-changing mechanism is constituted by inclined surfaces which are formed on the inside of the container wall at the point at which the wall is of increased thickness, these inclined surfaces being disposed opposite inclined surfaces formed on a collar or like portion of the rod-like member.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a flask or bottle comprising a device according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a shaker for a granular material such as salt, which shaker comprises a device according to the invention.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l a container 1 having a cylindrical wall 2 which tapers ofi into a point towards its discharge opening or bore 3. Formed on the inside of the container at the centre of its bottom 4 is a socket 5 which concentrically. willbe longitudinally shifted in thedirection. of arrow 2 A guides the adjacent end of a rod member 6 and which accommodates a spring 7 which urges the pointed opposite end of the rod 6 into the discharge opening 3. Provided on the rod 6 approximately intermediate its ends is a conical portion 9; Formed on the inside of the cylindrical container wall 2 is aperipheral head 10 of increased wall thickness lying in the plane of said conical portion 9 and presenting an inclined surface.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the said bead. It will be seen that the bead has circumferentially spaced slots or recesses ll through which the contents of the container may pass and which permit the container wall to be squeezed It will be appreciated that the rod 6 12, uncovering the discharge opening 3, when the container wall 2 in the region of the bead 10 is subjected to a squeezing pressure applied in the direction of the arrows 13.

Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in the form of a condiment shaker. The cylindrical wall 29 of the container is elastic and flexible and provided approximately intermediate its ends is a wall portion 30 of increased thickness resembling the head 10 shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The container has an end face on which it may stand, and the discharge opening is provided at the centre of said end face; the discharge opening 32 is normally held closed by the plug-like end portion 33 of the rod 34 which latter is acted upon by the compression spring 35. The spring 35 urges the rod 34 with its disc-like portion 36 against the thickened portion 30 of the container wall. The disc-like portion 36 and the portion 30 have formed thereon complementary inclined surfaces. Upon the container wall 29 being squeezed concentrically approximately in the region of the thickened portion 30 in the direction of the arrows 37, the rod 34 will be shifted downwardly in Fig. 3, causing the plug-like portion 33 to be moved away from its seat, so that the contents of the container, such as salt, may drop past the reduced portion of the rod 34. Fitted into the upper end of the container is a removable cap 38 permitting the container to be filled from its upper end.

It will be expressly understood that the invention is not limited to the constructions described and illustrated herein. The embodiments shown are susceptible to numerous modifications. The container may take the form of a collapsible tube, a bottle, a cartridge or box. In any case it is essential in regard to the invention that the container wall has elastic pliable regions which may be squeezed together in order to cause an interior member to transmit the movement of the wall in such a manner as to open the container so that its contents may be discharged.

I claim:

1. A container comprising an elongated hollow body made of a pliable flexible material and having formed in one end thereof an opening for the discharge of the contents of said body, a movable rod-like member disposed Within said body and, when in a position of rest, closing said opening with one of its ends, a wall portion of reduced pliability in the wall of said body and disposed a certain distance from the discharge opening, the said wall portion being adapted to act as a support for the rodlike member during its movement, a direction-changing mechanism formed on said support and the rod-like member and adapted, when said body is being squeezed, to transform the transverse movement of the pliable flexible wall into a longitudinal movement of said rod-like member, the said direction-changing mechanism being constituted by an internally projecting head portion in the less pliable region of the wall and having on the side remote from the said discharge opening an inclined surface whose inclination is in the direction in which the :wall of said body. 4

2. A container comprising a hollow body having a "bore for the discharge of the contents of the hollow body, a movable rod-like member provided with opposite ends disposed within the hollow body and, when in a position of rest, closing said bore with one of said ends, the hollow body consisting of thermo-plastic material and having a flexible side wall, actuating means between said side wall and said rod-like member, adapted to move the rod-like member axially upon the application of 15 2,661,515

pressure. to the side wall to move the same towards the interior of the hollow body to open the bore, the actuating means including a cone carried by the rod-like member and a plurality of spaced components arranged around the cone and integral with the side wall of the hollow body with said spaced components defining a projection, and spring means cooperable with the rodlike member and the body to urge the rod-like member to its position of rest upon the release of pressure on the said side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 523,254 -Winkley July 17, 1894 2,176,513 Smith Oct. 17, 1939 2,314,052 Perelson Mar. 16, 1943 2,546,709 Abarr Mar. 27, 1951 Smith Sept. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,844 Great Britain June 11,1886 

